Castle Players 
The Village Hall, Lytchett Matravers 
Caroline Burr 
13 February 2025
Having never read the famous book by Paula Hawkins, or seen the subsequent film, I was fascinated to see the stage version of The Girl On The Train. As a psychological thriller, the intrigue revolves around firstly where Megan is, and secondly who murdered her. What perhaps sets this whodunnit apart is that the protagonist Rachel (Kelly-Ann Singleton) is a barely-functioning alcoholic, unhappily attempting to recover from divorce, who invents the life of a couple she sees each day from the train. When Megan goes missing Rachel realises she half remembers something that may be the key to unlocking the mystery.
The play presents several challenges. Firstly, it comprises 16 scenes, moving from one location to another as the story unfolds. The inherently disjointed nature of this made maintaining the tension difficult, but was largely overcome with the use of three acting areas, and very slick scene changes. The very professional and creative lighting design by Chris Donaldson also helped with this. Sound effects were also used creatively to enhance the atmosphere and link the scenes together, but there was a tendency at times to overdo this, so that they became rather intrusive.
A second challenge was the number of themes that were addressed in the narrative, e.g. trust, alcoholism, loneliness, coercive control, motherhood (and the lack of it), etc. However, none of these are explored in any depth by the playwrights, with the exception of a moving scene between Megan and the therapist where she describes the death of her baby, beautifully and movingly played by Clare l’Anson.
A third challenge was the plot driven story which allowed for little character development. This meant that the touches of humour introduced by D I Gaskill (Peter Bennett) and Scott (Simon Langford) were very welcome. It also meant that some scenes worked better than others. All the intimate moments were well directed and acted, which was good to see, as often any kissing or implied sex scenes can appear awkward and stilted. Generally, the violence was well-handled too. Some of the final scenes were also very convincing, especially when Tom (very naturally acted by Sean Beaumont) takes Rachel through the alleged attack, and the final scene with Tom, Megan and Rachel. On a small point, I would have liked to see Rachel with a more convincing head injury, and for it to change more noticeably over the timeline of the play.
Steve Moore, with his calm demeanour, looked the part of a therapist, and Harriet Johns was persuasive as the put upon second wife, coping with ongoing harassment from Rachel. However, the material sometimes didn’t come off the page, and might have benefitted from a more adversarial relationship between Gaskill and Rachel where the two become sparring partners. Kelly-Ann Singleton had the hardest job of all, appearing on stage for most of the play and having to be in various states of emotional turmoil and inebriation! Playing both is very difficult, and sometimes this worked better than others. Adding some pauses to indicate a change of thought or to allow what’s been said to land might help to immerse the audience in the scene.
Costumes and props were all appropriate and well designed, and the cast worked hard as an ensemble to bring this play to life. However, I felt that with better material the good casting and professional approach demonstrated by the company would have reaped more rewards. For lovers of the book, this is probably a must-see play, and the near capacity audience clearly enjoyed the show. Perhaps try to get along tonight or tomorrow to support Castle Players and decide for yourselves.
